1998 3.1 Malibu 168,000 No fuel to Engine

MORPHEUS7

1998 CHEVROLET MALIBU

History:
I'm the Original owner. Only major problem was a leaky lower intake manifold gasket, which was fixed. About a year and 1/2 ago, car would have trouble keeping idle on warm days. I would leave for work in morning and it would drive fine. Upon leaving work on days warmer than about 70 degrees, the car would start, but would fight to stay idle. As I drove it, it would chug along and about 10 minutes later would finally smooth out and be ok. Last fall, it finally took a dump and would not start at all. I had to trailer it to my new home and it sat all winter until now. I just replaced the Mass air flow sensor, cuz it was not working, and I replaced the plugs. I tested the fuel pump and i'm getting great fuel pressure. The wires are newer, air filter is good, and the engine is getting plenty of spark. It just wont start. The engine will crank but not start. When it was running just before it died, I took it to Autozone for a Check Engine Light diagnosis and it came back with the speed input sensor and the EGR valve. Could any one of these contribute to the car not starting now? Thank you for any help you can provide on this. I'm at my whits end on this one.

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Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 AT 9:27 AM

23 Replies

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Egr valve - perhaps

Speed sensor-no.

Do you know the exact code numbers?

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Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 AT 2:45 PM

MORPHEUS7

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You know, I don't have that code right now. I hope I saved it. I will look tonight and see if I have the print out and reply tomorrow with it. If I don't have it, do you have any other suggestions on why it does not appear to be getting gas to the engine? Thanks for your quick reply to my problem. I am very appreciative of your help.

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Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 AT 3:36 PM

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Straight forward I don't know how much I can help, but will try. The injectors may not be pulsing, You need a noid light to check that. The code may or may not have anything to do with the problem, but should be investigated at some point.

Crank the engine and then pull the plugs and see if they are wet at all.

Have you done a compression test?

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Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 AT 3:41 PM

MORPHEUS7

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I will check the plugs when I get home tonight. As far as the compression test, no I have not. Would you happen to know of the best way to perform this test, so I know that i'm not doing something wrong in the process? Thanks again.

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Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 AT 3:50 PM

MORPHEUS7

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Thanks for the link. I will test the compression tonight. I did crank the engine over a few times and check the plugs. It does look like they appear wet. I was thinking maybe the fuel is bad, since it has been sitting about a year without being ran. It did sit thru a winter. Could that be a possible cause to not starting?

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Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 AT 7:25 AM

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Strange problems can happen when they set for a year. The fuel may be a problem. After the plugs are dry, use some starting fluid or carb cleaner to spray into the throttle body and see if it fires from that. If not, then check compression. IF good, then would think there is a timing issue that the spark, fuel and combustion are not happening at the right time.
I will be on vacation for several days, don't be afraid to send a pm to any of the moderators for advice.

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Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 AT 7:33 AM

MORPHEUS7

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After I replaced the MAF sensor, I did spray carb cleaner into the throttle body. The car started for a few seconds then died. I'll do some checking tonight when I get home and hopefully figure out what the problem is. Thanks again for your help with my problem and your quick responces. Enjoy your vacation.

Josh

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Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 AT 7:39 AM

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Josh,

Do the carb spray again. You might want to pull the fuse or relay to the fuel pump so it is giving any fuel and flood it if there is bad gas. See if you can run the engine off the carb cleaner. Might need to have some one else crank it to do this. IF it runs of the cleaner, check the fuel pressure and make sure it is in spec. If so, drain out the gas and freshen it up.

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Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 AT 7:52 AM

PETEY PAB

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I seem to have the exact same problem. I have a 1997 Malibu LS that will not start. All symptoms are identical to morpheus. It has also sat for nearly a year. I have replaced the fuel pump, starter, crank sensor, and cam sensor. It will start with starting fluid but die shortly after. Have not done a compression test yet, but there is no static fuel pressure.

Hope this helps any and any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 AT 7:18 PM

MORPHEUS7

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Weird. It is like you own my car. That is the exact same thing I am finding on my car. I drained a sample of the fuel in the tank and it looks ok. I have tested all the fuses, I tested the Throttle position sensor, MAF sensor, Cam Sensor, and both Crank Sensors. As long as I feed fuel into the engine manually, the engine runs, and sounds great. I did notice that the Tachometer is not registering any RPM's on my dash, when the engine runs. I'm looking over the electrical schematics and trying to come up with my next plan of attack. I'll let ya know what I find, but would appreciate any suggestions in the meantime. Thanks for contributing petey pab.